What we are doing: Splitting the class into 3 groups. 2 of each of us are going to take a group and be the “Teachers”. Each teacher is only going to teach one topic that is on the test. Then we are going to give the whole class the same test that has all 3 topics on it. There will also be a control group; 1 student in each group that will have ALL the materials that is on the test. Then after we “Grade” the test (a group grading will the quickest) we will discuss how some teachers do not have the time or resources to teach all the topics needed but them expect their students to catch up on their own. We can also talk about the”control” group and say that they are just “good test takers” and how is that fair compared to “bad test takers”.

Teaching Materials

Science

“ levels in the ecosystem”

Individual, Species, Organism:

An individual is any living thing or organism. Individuals do not breed with individuals from other groups. Animals, unlike plants, tend to be very definite with this term because some plants can cross-breed with other fertile plants.

In the diagram above, you will notice that Gill, the goldfish, is interacting with its environment, and will only crossbreed with other gold fishes just like her.

Population:

A group of individuals of a given species that live in a specific geographic area at a given time. (example is Gill and his family and friends and other fishes of Gill’s species) Note that populations include individuals of the same species, but may have different genetic makeup such as hair/eye/skin colour and size between themselves and other populations.

Community:

This includes all the populations in a specific area at a given time. A community includes populations of organisms of different species. In the diagram above, note how populations of gold fishes, salmons, crabs and herrings coexist in a defined location. A great community usually includes biodiversity.

Ecosystem:

As explained in the pages earlier, ecosystems include more than a community of living organisms (biotic) interacting with the environment (abiotic). At this level note how they depend on other abiotic factors such as rocks, water, air and temperature.

Biome:

A biome, in simple terms, is a set of ecosystems in a geographic area.

Biosphere:

When we consider all the different biomes, each blending into the other, will all humans living in many different geographic areas, we form a huge community of humans, animals and plants, in their defined habitats. A biosphere is the sum of all the ecosystems established on Earth.

The Underground Railroad was a term used for a network of people, homes, and hideouts that slaves in the southern United States used to escape to freedom in the Northern United States and Canada.

Was it a railroad?

The Underground Railroad wasn’t really a railroad. It was a name given to the way that people escaped. No one is real sure where it originally got its name, but the “underground” part of the name comes from its secrecy and the “railroad” part of the name comes from the way it was used to transport people.

Conductors and Stations

The Underground Railroad used railroad terms in its organization. People who led the slaves along the route were called conductors. Hideouts and homes where slaves hid along the way were called stations or depots. Even people who helped by giving money and food were sometimes called stockholders.

Who worked on the railroad?

Many people from various backgrounds worked as conductors and provided safe places for the slaves to stay along the route. Some of the conductors were former slaves such as Harriet Tubman who escaped using the Underground Railroad and then returned to help more slaves escape. Many white people who felt that slavery was wrong also helped, including Quakers from the north. They often provided hideouts in their homes as well as food and other supplies.

If it wasn’t a railroad, how did the people actually travel?

Traveling on the Underground Railroad was difficult and dangerous. Slaves would often travel by foot at night. They would sneak from one station to the next, hoping not to get caught. Stations were usually around 10 to 20 miles apart. Sometimes they would have to wait at one station for a while until they knew the next station was safe and ready for them.

Was it dangerous?

Yes, it was very dangerous. Not only for the slaves who were trying to escape, but also for those trying to help them. It was against the law to help escaped slaves and, in many southern states, conductors could be put to death by hanging.

When did the Underground Railroad run?

The Underground Railroad ran from around 1810 to the 1860s. It was at its peak right before the Civil War in the 1850s.

How many people escaped?

Since the slaves escaped and lived in secrecy, no one is quite sure how many escaped. There are estimates that say over 100,000 slaves escaped over the history of the railroad, including 30,000 that escaped during the peak years before the Civil War.

Fugitive Slave Act

In 1850 the Fugitive Slave Act was passed in the United States. This made it a law that runaway slaves found in free states had to be returned to their owners in the south. This made it even more difficult for the Underground Railroad. Now slaves needed to be transported all the way to Canada in order to be safe from being captured again.

Abolitionists

Abolitionists were people who thought slavery should be made illegal and all current slaves should be set free. The abolitionist movement started with the Quakers in the 17th century who felt that slavery was un-Christian. The state of Pennsylvania was the first state to abolish slavery in 1780.

Interesting Facts about the Underground Railroad
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Slave owners really wanted Harriet Tubman, a famous conductor for the railroad, arrested. They offered a reward of $40,000 for her capture. That was a LOT of money back then.

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One hero of the Underground Railroad was Levi Coffin, a Quaker who is said to have helped around 3,000 slaves gain their freedom.

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The most common route for people to escape was north into the northern United States or Canada, but some slaves in the deep south escaped to Mexico or Florida.

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Canada was often called the “Promised Land” by slaves. The Mississippi River was called the “River Jordon” from the Bible.

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In keeping with the railroad terminology, escaping slaves were often referred to as passengers or cargo.

Fried dough has been made all around the world. Dutch settlers who brought apple and cream pies, cookies and cobbler to the New World also introduced doughnuts. Their doughnuts were called olykoeks, or oily cakes – sweet dough balls fried in pork fat. Early doughnuts were often filled with apples, prunes or raisins. The name “doughnut” may refer to the nuts put in the middle of the dough ball to prevent an uncooked center or possibly to “dough knots” – another popular shape for the olykoeks. Today, “doughnut” and “donut” are used interchangeably.

There are three stories about why doughnuts have holes in the center. In 1847, Elizabeth Gregory was known for making a very fine olykoek with a hint of nutmeg and a filling of hazelnuts or walnuts. Her son, Hanson Crockett Gregory was a 16 year-old sailor who invented the doughnut hole.

One story says that on June 22, 1847, Captain Gregory’s ship hit a sudden storm. He impaled the doughnut as a spoke on the steering wheel to keep his hands free. The spoke drove a hole through the raw center of the doughnut. Captain Gregory liked the doughnuts better that way, and the doughnut hole was born.

In the second story, he didn’t like nuts, so he poked them out and ordered the ship’s cook to remove the centers from doughnuts.

The third version comes from an interview with the Captain Gregory in the Washington Post. Gregory didn’t like the greasiness of doughnuts twisted into various shapes, or the raw center of regular doughnuts. He suddenly had the idea to punch a hole with the ship’s tin pepper box. When he got home, he taught this new doughnut trick to his mother.

Making a hole increased the surface area exposed to the hot oil and eliminated the uncooked center.

Here’s part of the interview with 85 year-old Captain Gregory:

“Now in them days we used to cut the doughnuts into diamond shapes, and also into long strips, bent in half, and then twisted. I don’t think we called them doughnuts then–they was just ‘fried cakes’ and ‘twisters.’

“Well, sir, they used to fry all right around the edges, but when you had the edges done the insides was all raw dough. And the twisters used to sop up all the grease just where they bent, and they were tough on the digestion.”

“Well, I says to myself, ‘Why wouldn’t a space inside solve the difficulty?’ I thought at first I’d take one of the strips and roll it around, then I got an inspiration, a great inspiration. I took the cover off the ship’s tin pepper box, and–I cut into the middle of that doughnut the first hole ever seen by mortal eyes!”

“Well, sir, them doughnuts was the finest I ever tasted. No more indigestion–no more greasy sinkers–but just well-done, fried-through doughnuts.”